American Gospel: Christ Alone

Examines the prosperity gospel preaching of many televangelists (spoiler: this video is against it.) the main thing that was a turn off with this documentary was that it would flip between testimonies for and against the prosperity doctrines so quickly it would be hard to tell which point of view was being promoted. the stories are told in a linear but very broken fashion so that it takes a bit to figure out what each person's story is as it is interspersed with all the others. most of those testifying are ones who came out of a prosperity church and the other side isn't represented. (on screen notes say that they chose not to comment but the film crew doesn't even talk to any of the prosperity preachers' followers.) at no point do the film makers identify themselves and their own agenda (other than anti-prosperity).

Every single Christian needs to watch this. Exposure of false Gospel preaching. This should have come out 5 years ago before the obession of bethel took over.

I did see American Gospel and didn't like it at all. Yes it is informative in refuting the prosperity gospel, at the expense of regurgitating a gospel that feels about as welcoming as a chokehold. In this gospel, the emphasis is exclusively on having the right beliefs at the expense of ever putting them into practice. The teachings of Jesus, but for some passages from John's gospel, are pretty much overlooked. In fact, beyond the mantra of 'believe in Jesus and you shall be saved', there isn't much to live for. Two sermons into the documentary and I was ready for the door! Both judgment and hell take centre stage in the documentary but in a terminology one doesn't recognize from the words of Jesus. There is no reference to the judgment being aligned with how we treat the least of Christ's family: the hungry, the imprisoned, the naked and refugee - which is the only portrait the New Testament presents of the final judgment. (See Matthew 25:31-46) So at the expense of diminishing the need for our putting into practice the teachings of Christ, salvation rests entirely on believing the right doctrine. Sounds like works to me!

This movie is extremely well done and has a legit, theologically sound lineup. It presents a huge problem with Christianity today as not being biblical within this stream of Word of Faith/Prosperity gospel. It takes you directly into Scripture to support its viewpoint. Unfortunately, this stream of Christianity is growing and bring exported globally.

I grew up in the prosperity gospel / word of faith gospel so this film hit close to home. Praise God that he opened my eyes to this destructive, unbiblical doctrine a few years ago. This film does an excellent job of exposing how dangerous and false that belief system is. It also shines a light on the wickedness of the false teachers who peddle that nonsense. This is a film that every professing Christian needs to watch.